No Violence in São Paulo

Yesterday night was memorable, as thousands and thousand came out again to the streets of Sao Paulo in an amazing display of civility and togetherness. People marched and sang together with parents, children and friends. It was truly historic. The Government has acknowledged the protests and is rolling back the increase in the price of public transportation. But this is clearly just the begging, there is a lot more to do and that is why the marches and protests continue and will go on. This is all fine and dandy, but one thing remains. There is a lack of leadership, and lack of leadership leads to anarchy as people start to forget why they protest in the first place.

And therein, as they say, lies the problem…

Where will the new leadership come from? Who the new leaders will be?

Brazil is awake now, but it is not only time to rise. It is time to take responsibility and bring those who will respect and protect democracy and what it stands for.

It is lazy to quote from a movie, especially from idealistic ones but it is something worth quoting: I’m a citizen, this is my President. And in this country it is not only permissible to question our leaders it’s our responsibility!…..

People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they’ll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They’re so thirsty for it they’ll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there’s no water, they’ll drink the sand…..People don’t drink the sand because they’re thirsty. They drink the sand because they don’t know the difference.

Just in Case, a real one, from the only Abraham Lincoln: We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.